Nor does China’s air pollution respect borders: on certain days almost 25 percent of the particulate matter clotting the skies above Los Angeles can be traced to China, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental experts in California predict that China could eventually account for roughly a third of the state’s air pollution.

I am currently in the middle of reading The World is Flat and, in the book, Thomas Friedman develops a list of forces that have been pivotal in connecting and shrinking the distance between people and cultures in our modern society. His 8th force is “insourcing”, where a 3rd party company develops and runs part of another company’s business.

UPS is a prime example of a company who has begun to embrace this change and put their expertise to use. In the past, Toshiba notebook computers had a less than stellar quality reputation and shipping overseas for service took just a little bit longer than an irate customer usually wanted. UPS suggested that Toshiba cut extra shipping time and after the customer dropped the laptop off for return that UPS repair the notebook. With technicians fully certified by Toshiba, UPS now repairs every Toshiba laptop in the United States and has reduced the turnaround time dramatically.